BEAUTIFUL Kale Rainbow Salad with olive oil and lemon dressing is the perfect healthy salad recipe! This easy salad includes massaged kale, grape tomatoes and colorful peppers to give it a pretty rainbow look! My family loves this salad for dinner in Summer and Winter, and it’s great for a crowd! This recipe is sponsored by Peapod.

Do you ever have a meal that you become obsessed with? All of a sudden you don’t want a different meal every night, you want this one dish every single night until you get sick of it (which doesn’t seem because possible because you love it so much). That’s how I feel about this Kale Rainbow Salad. I LOVE IT!

I’ve been living on this salad for lunch and dinner. Even if Matthew talks me into making something else for dinner, I have a big side dish of this salad because I crave it so badly! A few years ago I wasn’t even that into kale, and then we started growing it and my life was changed forever. Move over lettuce and arugula, there’s a new best green for salads in town and it’s name is kale!

THE BEST Blueberry Buckle Crumble Cake that is delicious and tastes just like Coffee Cake! This moist cake recipe is easy to make and has a yummy Streusel Topping. Ingredients are simple – you probably have everything in your kitchen already to make it! Enjoy my favorite dessert! This recipe is sponsored by Peapod.

I can’t believe I’m just getting around to sharing this recipe with you because it has been a favorite in my kitchen for years. I started making this recipe about 7 years ago in the Summer when I was looking for a recipe to use fresh blueberries in. I love myself a good piece of cake, and I love myself a cinnamon sugar butter crumble, so this was the perfect recipe to combine these delicious food ideas together.

The cake part of this recipe is moist, soft and filled with berries. The crumble part of this cake is made with sugar, flour, cinnamon and cold butter to make a crumbly topping which (trust me!) everyone is going to love. After it bakes for 45 minutes, let it cool and you’ll love how smoothly it’s going to fall out of your pan to cut up into pieces. I recently made this Blueberry Buckle Crumble Cake for a get together brunch with friends and I heard multiple loving reviews as friends grabbed a piece of it.

DELICIOUS and only 175 CALORIES, this Birthday Cake Ice Cream Chocolate Brownie is my favorite dessert recipe! This healthy easy recipe uses all-natural ingredients and won’t leave you without any guilt after eating! It’s amazing – you must try it! This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Halo Top Creamery. All opinions are 100% mine.

This Birthday Cake Ice Cream Chocolate Brownie has been satisfying my ice cream craving. And even better, the entire thing is only 175 calories which means I don’t have to feel guilty at all about having ice cream after dinner!

Have you heard about Halo Top ice cream? It’s all the buzz right now in the food world! It has so much buzz to it my husband who doesn’t really look at food blogs except the occasional “Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies” or “This is the best pizza dough ever!” articles mentioned Halo Top ice cream to me a few days ago. I had to stop in my tracks and realize that if my husband is talking about it, then it must be serious! I ran to the store (more like waddled) and picked out 4 kinds to try – Chocolate, Vanilla Bean, Mint Chip and Birthday Cake. Sadly they were out of Peanut Butter Cup and Oatmeal Cookie or I would have added those to my shopping basket too.

Make-Ahead Freezer Salisbury Steak recipe that makes a comforting family dinner! This easy to make recipe uses Cream of Mushroom Soup and French Onion Soup to create a creamy gravy to pour on top of the steak patties. All you have to do is bake it and freeze it and it’ll be ready for weeknights when you don’t have time to cook. Serve alongside mashed potatoes and veggies for a full dinner. This recipe is sponsored by Peapod.

Sometimes life can get busy where you don’t have a hour to cook a home cooked meal. Instead of grabbing a boxed meal, or even worse ordering takeout, I love making homemade make-ahead freezer meals that I know will satisfy everyone at the dinner table on those busy weeknights. This Salisbury Steak recipe is one of our favorites and reminds me of the classic TV dinner that I used to love as a kid, but this is completely homemade.

When I find myself with some free time on the weekend, I’ll make 2 or 3 of these meals to put in the freezer so I can grab one when I just don’t have time to cook in the kitchen. The dish is so popular in my house that instead of groans that frozen meals can get, this one receives a big cheer (and even sometimes requested!). Whenever I make it I always serve with creamy mashed potatoes and a green veggie- either Brussels Sprouts or broccoli.

HEALTHY, TRIPLE FRUIT Strawberry, Banana, Pineapple Smoothie! This healthy recipe is easy to make – just throw all your ingredients in the blender! The milk (regular or almond) makes it creamy and delicious! I love this recipe for breakfast or a afternoon snack – it always energizes me!

It’s April 10th and it’s almost 70 degrees in NYC! Can we officially declare that the weather is changing? I don’t want to jinx it because I know it won’t last, but the last few days of beautiful weather has me craving fresh fruit! In the Winter I snack on bananas and apples, mostly because I can’t deal with spending $6 on a pint of out of season berries, but with Summer around the corner, I can’t wait for fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to grow in the garden and to be cheaply accessible in local farmers markets! Summer is all about the berries – don’t you agree?

This is one of my favorite smooth recipes and it includes 3 of my favorites: strawberries, banana and pineapple. I love how the sweet flavor of the strawberries mixes with the tropical taste of the pineapple. Mix it with some milk (regular or almond milk), throw in some ice cubes to quickly chill it and you’ll have a healthy, filling smoothie in less than 2 minutes.

DELICIOUS Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions that are easy to make in your Crockpot! This 4 ingredient recipe is the best and will have melt in your mouth onions ready for your favorite dish in 5 hours! Serve them with soups, casseroles, sandwiches, salads, chicken, pasta, burgers, pizza and more – seriously, you can add them to almost anything!

These Caramelized Onions came at a perfect time since we just planted our onion seeds for Spring, and I was able to use the remaining 3 pounds of last years onions for this recipe. It’s always magical when the timing works out perfect and you can go from harvest to seed without much waiting in between.

These Slow Cooker Caramelized Onions are what dreams are made out of. By slow cooking them we’re bringing out the natural sweetness of the onions as the sugar caramelizes. What starts as a full crockpot of onions is going to turn into a much smaller amount as they melt down. What you’re left with (besides an amazing smelling house that is going to make your neighbors jealous) is savory, sweet onions that are ready for you to add anywhere – soups, casseroles, sandwiches, salads, pasta, pizza – seriously, you can add them to anything! My husband came home and he started to immediately swoon upon the first smell of these sweet onions. On the first bite, his knees buckled and I had to catch him! The man loves his onions.

This recipe will be for sure one that will stick around with us for years to come after we pick our garden onions. I hope you give it a taste – I think you’ll be really happy you did!

Guilt-free Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars with Melted Chocolate Frosting on top! You’ll love how easy this recipe is and how these bars don’t fall apart! These bars are great for breakfast or dessert and are packed with protein! To keep it light on calories substitute 1/2 cup Stevia Blend instead of sugar.

I have a sweet tooth that can’t be contained right now. If life continues this way, the baby’s favorite food will definitely be donuts. Because I was craving something sweet but wanted to watch the calories (that means you can eat more!) I made these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Frosting using Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend, which has less sugar and calories than traditional sugar per serving. In the recipe, I will give you both options, Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend and sugar, but I wanted to share with you how great this raw sugar & organic stevia blend has been for me and my baking adventures.

These bars are delicious. A few weeks ago my husband went on a Bachelor’s Party weekend to Vermont skiing. Because I knew the boys would need fuel in between skiing down the slopes and playing Magic the Gathering (it was a wild weekend), I sent Matthew on the trip with a whole pan of these bars. The bars were quickly gone, and the boys were happy. Lots of times when you do a chocolate frosting you worry that they will be messy to handle, but if these can take on a road trip – then you can imagine how great they’d be for your own road trip, school/work lunches, birthday parties, sleepovers, or just having some always on the kitchen counter ready to be enjoyed.

BIRTHDAY PARTY Vanilla Whoopie Pies! This easy recipe makes delicious vanilla whoopie cake pies with marshmallow creme filling (just like homemade Amish Whoopie Pies!). These pretty sandwich pies are perfect for a birthday party or baby shower celebration (Its a girl!) with the help of pink food coloring and rainbow sprinkles.

These super delicious (seriously, I ate so many in the past day, someone take them away from me!) whoopie pies scream CELEBRATION! They are perfect for celebrating birthdays, baby showers and “I’m special, so let’s celebrate with whoopie pies” kinda days. I mean do we really need a reason to celebrate cake tasting whoopie pies that are pretty pink in color, baked with rainbow sprinkles and then have more sprinkles on the yummy marshmallow creme? Nope, we don’t need a reason. So bake yourself some Vanilla Celebration Whoopie Pies!

Whoopie pies are one of my childhood favorites. Whenever we made weekly trips to the Amish Market I would beg Mom and Dad to spoil me with a whoopie pie for the trip home. These Whoopie Pies taste just like I remember as a kid, they pies are soft and taste like cake. The cream inside is made up of powdered sugar, butter and marshmallow fluff so it’s rich tasting, sweet and very addicting (it’s my favorite part of a whoopie pie!).

SLOW COOKER Shredded Chicken and White Bean Soup is packed with healthy, hearty vegetables which is going to warm up your dinner table! This recipe is easy to make – throw all the ingredients in your crock pot for 8 hours and it’s ready! Even better – this meal is economical and doesn’t cost much to make! We love this as a Fall and Winter meal!

This Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken and White Bean Soup warms my heart physically and emotionally. It’s everything a comforting Winter time soup should be – easy to make, makes the house smell great, is filling and makes me feel warm.

On the emotional side it makes me happy because it is filled with vegetables from our Summer garden. Besides the carrots and celery we are using our canned stewed tomatoes which I can’t get enough of. We canned so many of these tomatoes I lost track of how many.

You’ll love how easy this Pumpkin Pancakes recipe is! These delicious extra fluffy pancakes made from scratch are low carb and packed with protein (1/2 cup pumpkin!). They make a healthy substitution instead of buttermilk pancakes. My family considers them “the best pumpkin pancakes in the world!”.

I know you’re probably thinking “Isn’t NYC in a snowstorm right now, but yet you’re posting a pumpkin recipe?”. You’re right. NYC is under a blanket of beautiful white snow. And I still have over 100 pounds of pumpkins from the Fall garden decorating my apartment. Can you believe it? We have big pumpkins, pie size, and munchkins sprawled out all over the apartment just like it was still Halloween. I have to clear a few out as they go bad, but at this rate I think I’m good to go with fresh pumpkins for at least the next few months!

Being a girl who loves pumpkin year round and doesn’t believe that pumpkin only needs to be celebrated in the Fall I wanted to bake up a pumpkin breakfast to satisfy my pancake craving I’ve been having (hello baby!). Pumpkin pancakes are one of those foods that are near perfection for me. Throw a little dab of butter on top, definitely add some maple syrup and you have the perfect breakfast (or dinner!). These pancakes are fluffy, moist and have a delicious flavor of pumpkin and spices to take them to that next level. Pumpkin pancakes, I love you.

If you don’t have any fresh pumpkins lying around in March, don’t worry. You can use frozen pumpkin puree that you kept from your Fall pumpkins (remember how easy it is to make?) or you can use canned pumpkin. Either way, I hope you enjoy these Pumpkin Pancakes soon!

Gluten Free Baked Vanilla Donuts recipe with a bright pink frosting on top! The icing glaze is completely all natural and made with beet powder – which has no beet taste to it! These cute donuts are great for birthday party, bridal party and wedding desserts!

These donuts are stunning. They are beauty pageant material. With a golden brown baking finish, and the prettiest natural pink color frosting on top you might as well call them Miss Donut World 2017. And the taste? Oh my! Give the donuts their sash and crown already because they’re delicious!

FAQ for this recipe:

Where can I buy a donut pan?
You can buy one at kitchen supply stores, most large department stores and of course – Amazon! I recommend getting 2 pans as most recipes make 12 donuts.

Is your recipe right, do I really need to use 6 eggs?
Yes, you really do. Coconut flour is super absorbent and needs extra liquid in it. When substituting coconut flour for all purpose flour, you should add 1 extra egg for every 1/4 cup of coconut flour being added. For example, this recipe when using all purpose flour calls for 2 eggs, but since we’re using 1 cup coconut flour we need to add a extra 4 eggs equaling 6 eggs. I know this sounds crazy if you’ve never used coconut flour but you’ll be amazed by how much the flour absorbs the liquid.

Can I use all purpose flour instead of coconut flour?
Yes, use 1 cup all purpose flour and 2 eggs (instead of 6).

My donuts always fall apart when they come out, what did I do wrong?
Most likely you didn’t cook them long enough so please (especially with this recipe) make sure to use a toothpick to insert into a donut to make sure they are fully cooked. When you are absolutely sure they are fully done, remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. After that I use a butter knife and gently scrape around the edges to remove each donut.

Do I have to use beet powder?
Of course not – that just gives them a pretty natural color. If you want to add no color to the frosting, don’t add add beet powder (it will just be a plain white frosting). If you don’t have beet powder you can use blueberries (great for a natural dye) or food coloring (not so natural).

EASY TO MAKE recipe for Homemade Shredded Chicken Dumpling Soup with potatoes, carrots and celery. This creamy soup is a healthy comfort dinner food! Best served with biscuits to dip into the chicken broth! Mom, your families are going to love this!

This soup is a Winter comfort food favorite. It’s so delicious that I can almost guarantee that whenever I make it, we’ll have it the night after again because the craving will still be there. That’s what happened last week. I made it on Wednesday, we ate it all, we loved it. On Thursday we decided we were going to make it for dinner again. And we ate it all again.

The best thing about this soup besides the homemade dumplings (yum!) is that it’s also filled with veggies – potatoes, celery, carrots – everything a good chicken soup should have in it.

FAQ for this recipe:

Can I substitute or add additional vegetables?
Feel fee to make it your own and add additional vegetables if you’re trying to empty out the fridge – onions, peas, green beans, and bite size cauliflower are all equally good in it. Just don’t skip on the potatoes – never skip on the potatoes!

Can I use chicken bouillon cubes instead of broth?
Absolutely, I do it all the time.

Can I make this vegetarian?
You sure can. Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and don’t add in chicken breast. You might want to add in some additional protein like white or great northern beans.

Are dumplings hard to make?
No. Homemade dumplings are one of the easiest things to make. It’s really just about mixing some simple ingredients together and then dropping it into hot broth to form the dumpling. The dumplings might not be the prettiest you’ve ever seen, but they will taste just as delicious.

Do I need to make a side dish for this soup?
I never do, it’s pretty hearty as is. I like to serve with some buttered bread or rolls.

EASY delicious Homemade Scones that are perfect to serve with clotted cream, jam and tea! This is a one bowl recipe that creates crumbly English soft scones – just like at a tea house. The secret to this recipe is sour cream! Add blueberry or raspberry to them to make them berry flavored!

Scones have been on my “must conquer” recipe list for quite some time. Making the perfect scone is hard and I usually was left with something that was dense and cake-like and not crumbly and light, how scones should be. But no more – scones, I’ve come and conquered you. I’m in love with this recipe so much that I worry I’m going to be making these at least twice a week because they’ve become our new favorite afternoon snack (I always have one with my daily tea!). Make sure to serve them warm with clotted cream and jam. If you want to add fruit to them, you can totally can, just read my FAQ below for help. Enjoy!

FAQ for this recipe:

Do I need a food processor for this?
In theory, no, but it makes the scones much easier to make and gives them their signature crumbly scone texture. If you don’t have a food processor you can mix by hand but just make sure you really get that butter to a crumbly coarse texture. To do this you might want to try grating the butter separately to get it crumbly. In general I think a food processor is a kitchen must have and once you have one you will quickly be using it a few times a week and wonder how you lived without it.

Does my butter need to be chilled?
Yes, the butter should be chilled or frozen. Using room temperature butter will not result in crumbly scones.

Can I add berries/raisins/chocolate chips to these?
Absolutely. After making the dough add 1/2 cups of preferred add-in (I love raspberries) and stir them to combine with a wooden spoon. DO NOT PULSE FOOD PROCESSOR WITH ADD-INS!

Do I have to use sour cream?
Yes! Sour cream is going to make them extra soft. If you’re worried about them having a sour cream taste don’t worry – they don’t (and this comes from a girl who doesn’t like sour cream!).

How many servings does this recipe make?
I like to cut my dough into 8 big scones, but you could easily cut it into 16 smaller scones.

What is clotted cream? You recommend serving with it.
Clotted cream is life changing and whenever possible your scones should be enjoyed with it. It’s a rich, cream spread – kinda similar to butter but thicker and more sweet. It’s kinda a butter/ice cream mixture if that makes sense at all. Clotted cream is made by slowly cooking heavy cream for many hours until it thickens up. You can google recipes on how to make it if you’d like. It’s easy to make but takes lot of time and needs quite a bit of heavy cream. You could also just buy it like I do.

Can I put icing on top of the scones?
You sure can but I’d recommend using a light icing if you do. In my opinion clotted cream and jam are so much better on scones than icing.

Homemade Baked Sugar Donuts recipe that is easy to make and ready in 15 minutes. These simple and extra soft donuts taste just like sugar donuts from your favorite bakery!

We live in a world filled with exciting donut flavors and combinations. Remember the half donut/half croissant craze? Have you checked out the exotic flavors that bakeries are offering for donuts? There’s Blood Orange, Cafe Au Lait, Hibiscus, Passion Fruit, Horchata, Matcha and more. Maybe I’m not foodie adventurous but I love simple donuts. Sugar, Glazed, Chocolate donuts – now you’re talking my language. Because I was craving donuts I came up with this simple Homemade Baked Sugar Donuts recipe that I think you’ll love!

These donuts are delicious and extra soft! They are made with buttermilk so you know they are going to be moist and soft! Throw your donut pan in the oven for 15 minutes, let cool for a few minutes and then shake the donuts in a bag of sugar and your Homemade Baked Sugar Donuts are ready to be eaten and enjoyed!

4 Ingredient Vanilla Pretzel Milkshake! This homemade milkshake recipe is easy to make and is the perfect combo of sweet and salty! Throw the 4 ingredients in your blender and it’s ready – it’s that simple! Perfect for dessert or a Summer treat!

I know it’s Winter and cold out but I can’t help it, I’m craving vanilla milkshakes! A few days ago I woke up and couldn’t get milkshakes out of my mind. So I rushed to the store, mumbling something to my husband about “going to the grocery store, need mikshakes now” as I slipped out the front door. Quickly I was back home, pulling the blender out of the cabinet to make a homemade milkshake. To go the extra milkshake mile I wanted to make it really special. Answer? Pretzels! I love the combo of ice cream (sweet!) and pretzels (salty!). If you’ve never dipped pretzels in ice cream before you’re missing out. With just 4 ingredients (ice cream, milk, vanilla and pretzels) I had a Classic Vanilla Pretzel Milkshake quickly in my hands to enjoy!

This recipe is pretty much as easy as it gets. Throw everything in the blender and blend. Then pour the milkshake in a cup, grab a straw and a spoon and enjoy! I always recommend adding some extra broken up pretzels on top and to stir around. I love when you get a bite of a pretzel in the milkshake! Delicious!

This is a sponsored recipe post written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill.

Delicious Stuffed Green Peppers recipe that is smothered in cheese and stuffed with Quinoa and Kale inside. Enjoy this comforting healthy meal for dinner soon!

I’m a stuffed peppers fanatic. I love them. It all started in the kitchen as a kid when my Mom made a mean dish filled with green peppers. I still love green peppers but I love making them a little more garden friendly so for this recipe I added quinoa and kale inside instead of the usual ground beef. Trust me, you are going to love these. They are everything a stuffed green pepper should be, including being smothered in tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on top!

To make the recipe easy to follow, check out the video I made. Are you hungry yet for these Quinoa Kale Stuffed Peppers?

The mixture inside is quinoa cooked in chicken broth (so delicious – I could just eat this as is!), fresh kale and a cup of tomato sauce. Once everything is mixed then start filling each pepper.

CHOCOLATE SPRINKLED BROWNIES made with BLACK BEANS and APPLESAUCE (healthy and low calorie!) that are easy to make! These homemade chocolate brownies are super fudgy and moist! My family considers this the BEST brownies recipe! The rainbow sprinkles on top make the brownies really pretty!

Right now I’m bean obsessed. We’ve been cooking our dry black beans we grew in the garden during the Summer on cold nights and it’s been such a treat to enjoy those grown with love beans during the Winter. I’ll be sharing a “How to Grow Black Beans” DIY soon because they’re so easy to grow and for me they’re one of the proudest garden accomplishments! I mean seriously how cool is it to grow your own beans? So cool! What else is cool? Using black beans to make chocolate brownies! Did I mention that they’re extra delicious too?

You might associate black beans with tacos, salsas and salads pretty easily, but hopefully I’m able to persuade you to try baking with them because they make delicious desserts too. In the past I’ve baked with black beans, kidney beans, red beans and have had yummy results so I wanted to use our black beans in a new super chocolaty brownie recipe. This recipe calls for 1 15 oz can of black beans which you’ll add with the rest of your ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. Because I wanted to use my homegrown dry beans, I did a overnight soak of my beans and then cooked them to get my 15 oz can worth. It’s a little extra work with dry beans, but it’s worth it if you want to give it a try. If not, it’s totally ok, just make it easier for yourself by using canned beans!

BANANA BREAD Chocolate Muffins with CHOCOLATE Frosting! This easy recipe is made with 3 bananas (that makes it healthy, right?) and tastes just like banana bread! These muffins are moist and extra soft! My family says this is THE BEST banana dessert!

Do you love banana bread? I hope your answer is “Yes!” because I have a real treat for you. I love banana bread myself. I will admit as a kid I had too many pieces of convenience store banana bread topped with cream cheese. Obviously nothing beats homemade banana bread, especially the smell that comes out of the oven when it’s done baking. Can you close your eyes and just imagine that smell? Hope you’re getting hungry!

These banana muffins taste just (and smell just like!) baked banana bread. To make them even sweeter, I topped them with a rich chocolate frosting. Banana and chocolate are a great combo (like this ice cream) but it even tastes better in muffin form!

This Kale Potato Bread Stuffing is a comforting side dish that goes perfect with a chicken, pork chop or steak dinner. You’ll love how the top is slightly crispy too!

I love stuffing. I’ve shared my Amish Potato Stuffing and Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing Casserole before but wanted to share with you my current favorite side dish, Kale Potato Bread Stuffing! This recipe uses my Amish Potato Stuffing as a base but I threw in kale to add some greens. Since the dish has a whopping 4 cups of kale in it, you don’t even need to make a extra vegetable to serve at dinner.

This is the perfect side dish to a chicken, pork chop or steak dinner. It’s also a great dish to serve for large potluck parties (think of the upcoming Big Game!) as a small serving of it goes a long way in hunger and taste.

HOMEMADE Blueberry English Muffins! You’re going to love this easy to make breakfast recipe! Save money and start making your own English muffins instead of buying the store bought ones. These ones are much more delicious and healthy! I love having one of these muffins with a cup of tea!

I’m starting 2017 with a bang – homemade Blueberry English Muffins! These have been on my “must make list” for quite some time since every morning I start my day off with one. I decided I was sick of buying the store bought version (plus they’re sometimes hard to track down) so I wanted to start making my own. Surprisingly these homemade English Muffins are easy to make and don’t require that much time waiting for the dough to rise. Once you’ve made your own batch of these I bet you’ll never buy them again! Hope you all enjoy… and Happy New Year!